The Inspector General for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has agreed to investigate whether a former Republican National Committee co-chairwoman was improperly hired to become CPB’s new chief executive officer, Sen. Byron Dorgan’s (D-N.D.) office said Tuesday. [IMGCAP(1)]

Dorgan had requested an IG probe in late June after receiving complaints that the process used by CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson to hire Patricia Harrison “may have been rushed and conducted outside normal practices,” according to a Dorgan press release.

The IG probe into the choice of Harrison will be an extension of an existing IG investigation into whether Tomlinson inappropriately commissioned a $14,000 study of political bias on CPB-funded news programs. The IG is also looking into Tomlinson’s decision to pay two Republican lobbyists $10,000 to determine how Members of Congress felt about changes to the CPB’s board of directors.

Voting Group Plays Ball. DC Vote, a group dedicated to securing voting representation in the House and Senate for the District of Columbia, unveiled a new banner on the west side of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium featuring the phrases “Go Nats!” and “Taxation Without Representation” earlier this month.

Organizers hope that the 10-foot-by-20-foot banner will raise national awareness of the District’s lack of representation in Congress. “The first-place Nationals have garnered attention from sports fans around the country,” said the group’s executive director, Ilir Zherka, in a statement. “Our hope is that the DC voting rights movement message and history travels with the team from city-to-city.”

— Emily Pierce and Sonny Bunch